Ohio Girl

For the sake of the imaginary NASCAR fans among my imaginary readers I will do some catch up. (Yes, I am aware you are not real, but as I have told my therapist a thousand times, insight just means one has the ability to discuss yet another layer of dysfunction.)

Bristol, Baby…the most famous short track in NASCAR, maybe in the whole racing kingdom. This short track is also incredibly fast. The night race is always eagerly anticipated as fast cars and not a lot of room equals poorly behaved drivers and lots of bent up sheet metal. I know, I know, it is not about the crashes, it is about the skill and the technology and blah, blah, blah. What is more entertaining than watching grown men act out a road rage opera under the lights, live on camera? Besides some bad behavior by Dale Jarrett that resulted in a two lap penalty, this year’s Sharpie 500 was actually pretty tame. Matt Kenseth, the former Cup champion, made good on the recent renewed energy of his team by bringing home the checkered flag for the first time in over a year.

California…I missed most of this race. I was busy camping out in the back yard at my folk’s house with my nieces and nephew and sibs. In fact, I think it was right around the time we were singing ‘The Gambler’ around the campfire that Junior’s engine blew officially ending his dark horse chance to make it into the chase. He’s had an abysmal season and has promised his fans he will give them something to cheer about next year. He’s so darn cute in his Wrangler’s we’ll just have to take his word for it and move on. Rookie Kyle Busch, referred to as ‘Shrub’ by Tony Stewart, got his first win. His big brother is Championship defender, Kurt Busch.

Richmond…the final race before the ten-race battle for the Championship, was a nail-biter. The tenth spot was hotly contested throughout the night with Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Elliot Sadler racing one anther for position. McMurray was spun out and eliminated from the running. Jeff Gordon, also trying to get into the Chase, had a horrible night. Kurt Busch took home the win and these are the lucky guys who will be competing for the Championship: Stewart, Biffle, Wallace, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Martin, Mayfield, Edwards, Kenseth, and Newman.

Richmond Busch Series Race. I happened to catch the last half and was reminded why I always like to watch the Busch Series. Those guys (and girl) really race. The championship points leader found himself punted. His car actually ran up the wall and went around the race track on its side, before righting itself. Martin Truex, Jr., the driver, climbed out without a beat, and ran out to flip off the car that did the punting. Meanwhile, his crew hammered out his wreck of a car so he could go out on the track and try to defend his lead. Now that’s some racing.